War on Cash

Tonight I just got finished reading the transcript of a February 9, 2017, interview of well-known investor, author, and financial commentator Jim Rogers by Macro Voices’ Erik Townsend. As usual, the former investing partner of George Soros discussed a number of topics, including:

U.S. Stocks- “Happy days are here” if President Trump carries out those “wonderful things” he said he would (cut taxes, rebuild infrastructure, bring $3 trillion home which U.S. companies have overseas) and avoids trade wars

U.S. Dollar- Despite the correction, “it’s going to go too high, may turn into a bubble, at which point I hope I’m smart enough to sell it because at some point the market forces are going to cause the dollar to come back down because people are going to realize, oh my gosh, this is causing a lot of turmoil, economic problems in the world and it’s damaging the American economy.”

Junk Bonds- “I am shorting junk bonds still”

Precious Metals- “I’m still sitting and watching. I want to own more gold. I want to own more silver but I want to own it at a lower price which I expect.”

“War on Cash”- “Probably we are not going to have as many freedoms as we have now even though we are already losing our freedoms at a significant pace.”

(Editor’s notes: Info added to “Crash Prophets” page; a qualified professional should be consulted prior to making a financial decision based on material found in this weblog. If this recommended course of action is not pursued, then it must be understood that the decision is the reader’s and the reader’s alone. The creator/Editor of this blog is not responsible for any personal liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application, either directly or indirectly, of any information contained herein.)

“The question we now have to ask is if technologically it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong that there is no key. There is no door at all. Then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have available to even do simple things like tax enforcement? Because, if in fact you can’t crack that at all- government can’t get in- then everybody is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket…”

-U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival on March 11, 2016

In that same Sovereign Society interview of investor Jim Rogers I blogged about Wednesday, the former investing partner of George Soros emphasized the importance of geographical diversification with one’s assets

Economist Martin Armstrong predicts that while an “official” gold confiscation program might not be announced/implemented, the federal government will slap restrictions on traveling at home/abroad with gold and may go so far as to make precious metals transactions in the U.S. illegal, opening the door to confiscation

Jeff Thomas, feature writer for Casey Research’s International Man and the Cayman Islands private vault Strategic Wealth Preservation, discussed how government “freebies” are drying up, the historical pattern of economic collapse when politicians are unable to raise more taxes/ borrow more money, and the three groups of victims in the general public from the crash – including the “Preparers”

For the rest of the day, investing will be the focus of discussion here on Survival And Prosperity. Turning to the “crash prophets,” Swiss-born investment advisor/money manager Marc Faber was interviewed by CNBC-TV18’s Surabhi Upadhyay this past weekend. When asked if he still thought U.S. stock prices would end up falling 40 percent, the publisher of the monthly investment newsletter The Gloom Boom & Doom Report replied (from a transcript of their exchange):

What I said is that the market in the US would decline between 20 and 40 percent from the high rates last May, which was on the S&P 2,134.

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

After U.S. stocks closed higher Friday for their first positive week in four, “Doctor Doom”- as the financial press likes to call him- warned:

I think the markets will still go lower. What we can have is the difficulties — if you print money, basically something will go up and in the case of the last few years what has gone up meaningfully are stocks but that after 2011, stocks did no longer go up…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

If he’s not bullish on U.S. equities, what is Dr. Faber’s recommending to investors these days? Mark O’Byrne , executive, marketing, and research director at Dublin-based international bullion dealer GoldCore, wrote on their blog last Wednesday:

Marc Faber, editor of the “Gloom, Doom & Boom Report,” has advised investors that now is a good time to invest in gold…

Faber says investors would be prudent to diversify into safe haven in gold bullion which has risen 3% this year and is currently at $1,096 an ounce…

Back on May 11, 2015, I blogged about an interview of Dr. Faber by Simon Black over at Sovereign Man, a provider of global financial intelligence and solutions. In the exchange that was uploaded to the Sovereign Man website on May 8, Faber told listeners:

The only currencies that I regard as significantly undervalued at the present time are the precious metals- silver, gold, platinum, palladium. And I would advise any investor to have at least some money in precious metals. The problem is, as a very informed reader of mine said, if precious metals really one day work out- in other words, gold goes to $10,000 an ounce- you can be sure that the government will take it away from you. That is a threat.

As you know in the world- since you are running an organization Sovereign Man- there is a move to curtail freedom, and there is a move to abolish paper money… If I were your listeners and I held gold, if paper money is abandoned or banished, about the last thing you want to hold is gold because it will be taken away as well. So you better close down your accounts at Citi, in my view. Put your money somewhere, anywhere in the world, except in U.S. banks.

(Editor’s notes: Info added to “Crash Prophets” page; a qualified professional should be consulted prior to making a financial decision based on material found in this weblog. If this recommended course of action is not pursued, then it must be understood that the decision is the reader’s and the reader’s alone. The creator/Editor of this blog is not responsible for any personal liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application, either directly or indirectly, of any information contained herein.)

Nearly 1 Out Of 3 City Of Chicago Workers Made $100K Or More Last Year

Having lived in a northwest side neighborhood chock-full of City of Chicago employees prior to moving out to the ‘burbs, I wasn’t really surprised to learn of the following. Chris Fusco and Tim Novak reported on the Chicago Sun-Times website yesterday:

Nearly one out of every three workers on the city of Chicago payroll made $100,000 or more last year — a far higher percentage of six-figure employees than in state or Cook County government.

That’s according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis that for the first time combines city workers’ salaries, overtime and other extra pay.

Twenty-six city workers drew paychecks that eclipsed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pay of $216,210, the analysis found. They included a police detective, two fire department ambulance commanders and two water department operating engineers…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

Fusco and Novak noted that there were 35,761 City of Chicago employees last year. And nearly 1 out of 3 made $100K or more? Nice gig if you can get it, right? Regrettably, I predict that when tough financial times finally arrive at the Windy City’s doorstep, even “clout” won’t be able to protect certain positions and salaries from getting slashed.

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle To Tax Ammunition Sales?

Gun “control” (or gun “safety” as certain word wankers are now trying to call it) is on the march again in Cook County. From a County blog post Friday:

In an effort to reduce gun violence and improve public safety by creating new revenue for preventative actions, President Preckwinkle is also proposing a tax on rounds of ammunition sold in Cook County. The ammunition tax, either a penny or nickel per round depending on the category of ammunition, is aimed at addressing the costs of future gun crimes and the revenue generated will be dedicated to public safety initiatives.

President Preckwinkle, long an advocate of common sense gun laws, previously supported and passed a $25 tax on gun sales in Cook County. She has advocated for legislation that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require registration of existing firearms and require background checks on all firearms sales at gun shows — commonly referred to as the “gun show loophole.”

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

Tax law-abiding firearm owners in Cook County for the actions of criminals? Yeah, that makes a lot of “common sense.” You see, felons and other convicted criminals can’t purchase ammunition legally in Cook County, because they shouldn’t be able to get an Illinois State Police-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. From the Illinois State Police, Firearm Services Bureau website:

Unless specifically exempted by statute, any Illinois resident who acquires or possesses firearms, firearm ammunition, tasers or stun guns within the State must have in their possession a valid FOID card issued in his or her name…

To be eligible for a FOID card, a person must be 21 years of age or have a parent or guardian sponsor that is eligible for a FOID card. An applicant must not be prohibited from possessing firearms in accordance with state or federal law. This requires the applicant is/has:

• Not been convicted of a felony…
• Not subject to an existing order of protection.
• Not been convicted within the past 5 years of battery, assault, aggravated assault, violation of an order of protection, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, in which a firearm was used or possessed.
• Not been convicted of domestic battery, aggravated domestic battery, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction…
• Not convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence…

So what’s President Preckwinkle’s goal from a Cook County ammo tax then? My guess is gun “safety.” Something tells me we’ll be seeing the county in court if they decide to pursue this matter.

Illinois

Illinois Open Range Program To Be Held On November 14

Speaking of guns and the Illinois State Police, it’s that time of year again in the “Land of Lincoln.” From the website of central Illinois NBC affiliate WAND 17 on Friday:

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is teaming up with Illinois State Police to promote hunting safety through the annual Open Range Program on November 14.

Officials say hunters and observers will be invited to ISP ranges in order to check the sighting in their shotguns…

Ranges in Effingham, Pawnee, Pittsfield, Macomb, Joliet, and LaSalle will be open for the program from 8 AM until 4 PM this coming Saturday. For more information, head on over to WAND 17’s website here.

International

Greece’s Government Confiscating Contents Of Bank Safe Deposit Boxes?

Last week, I was working on my offshore asset protection-related projects quite a bit. And here’s something disturbing I noted Friday in a post on Offshore Safe Deposit Boxes that may interest you:

Just when the reputation of bank safe deposit boxes couldn’t get any worse comes this out of Greece. Anthee Carasavva reported on The Times (UK) website back on October 12:

Greece’s government is raiding savers’ safe deposit boxes to raise revenue and stamp out tax evasion.

Tryfon Alexiadis, the deputy finance minister, said yesterday that Greeks owing more than €150,000 in back taxes would be targeted. Those suspected of tax evasion would also come under scrutiny and their bank deposit boxes prised open without notice…

“Safe deposit boxes across the country will be subject to these inspections immediately,” Mr Alexiadis told an Athens-based TV network…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

It’s being reported that the tax inspectors could seize half of the cash found, and stocks, bonds, jewelry, and works of art. You can read the entire post in its entirety here on my other blog.